22 June 2012: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has requested the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to take the lead in setting up a Scientific Advisory Board to provide him and UN agencies with comprehensive advice on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development, as well as on how to promote cooperation on such matters among various UN agencies and with the international scientific community.

His request is in response to a recommendation of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP). In its final report, titled “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing,” the GSP asks the Secretary-General to “consider naming a chief scientific adviser or establishing a scientific advisory board with diverse knowledge and experience to advise him or her and other organs of the United Nations” (recommendation 51).

Once established, the Board is expected to discuss proceeding on the remainder of GSP recommendation 51, on strengthening the interface between policy and science.

Ban also asked UNESCO to provide the secretariat for the Board, once it is established.

The GSP report contains a total of 56 recommendations that seek to mainstream sustainable development into economic policy, by integrating social and environmental costs into pricing and measuring of economic activities. [UNESCO Press Release] [Publication: Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing] [IISD RS Sources]